About the book:
You’ve always wanted to write a novel and have been nurturing a great idea. Perhaps you’ve made a pile of notes—even written several chapters. But as you sit down alone with the blank page or your next scene, nothing happens. Or if the writing does start to flow, it soon dries up.
You’re facing that overwhelming gap between the story you’re imagining and the book you want to write. It’s enough to cause most people to throw in the towel. But that doesn’t have to be you!
In The One Week Writing Workshop, author Karin Adams helps you to overcome the overwhelm. She breaks the writing process down into a series of bite-sized, actionable tasks within a proven seven-step method. It’s the method Karin herself uses, and the one she has taught to thousands of workshop participants since 2010. This book is for you whether you’re just starting your novel, stuck in the middle, or getting back to an old draft.
While The One Week Writing Workshop emphasizes taking action now, it also circles back to story essentials as you go. If you’ve read other writing books, it will complement, reinforce and add fresh perspectives to what you’ve learned. If you’ve never studied creative writing before, The One Week Writing Workshop is the perfect book for getting yourself grounded while you get busy writing.
Structured as a seven-day workshop, each chapter is a lively session guiding you through energizing tasks that get you working on and actively growing your story. Throughout the book, you have lots of choice so that you can further tailor the experience for you and your novel.
You’ll find:
- 70+ real-world writing activities and strategies you’ll start using within minutes of opening the book
- A tried-and-tested 7-step method for starting your novel and seeing it through to the finish
- Hands-on strategies for every step of the writing process, from generating ideas to revision
- Helpful mini lessons to get (or keep) you grounded with story writing essentials
- A blend of at-your-desk and out-of-the-box actions that help to inspire your entire creative self
- Activities you can come back to again and again to bust past blocks, develop new story concepts and reconnect with the joy that got you writing in the first place
Buy the book here!
Reviews:
5 Stars
The One Week Writing Workshop is the perfect kickstart to any new writer’s career. Writer’s block will be a thing of the past for anyone who follows this guide. However, this book isn’t just for new writers; experienced writers will also gain valuable information from this resource.
Author Karin Adams is a seasoned writer who shares her personal novel-writing method in this book. The book is designed like a seven-day workshop you would attend in person, however it gives the writer flexibility to complete the activities at their own pace.
The book starts with tips to help the writer get started. These tips include creating affirmations, remembering what caused you to want to write, and creating the ideal writing space. I especially loved the ideas on creating a writing space because there are endless possibilities. Small changes like music, decor, and decluttering can really make a difference when you are trying to get the words out on the page.
Each day is made up of several small sections. These sections include: the warmup, core activity, and stretch.
The one day in the workshop that is different from the rest of the days is day four: plot and planning. On this day, the writer should complete the whole day’s activities in one day. This was my favorite day because it entailed the writer creating a storyboard using sticky notes. As someone who is more of a visual learner, I had a lot of fun learning the technique to create the storyboard. I liked being able to move the sticky notes from one section to the other to create a story that flowed well and made sense chronologically. As a new writer, I had never heard of this technique before. Outlining and diagramming are methods that are often taught, but they can get messy if you’re someone who does a lot of erasing and rewriting.
Another exercise that I found to be helpful was the one in which the writer takes a commonly used adjective and writes twenty synonyms for it. This was more challenging than I thought it would be. It was truly a cerebral exercise.
Overall, I found this book to be an excellent source for creativity, pacing, ideas, and unconventional methods that many authors may never have heard of. None of the exercises were complex or needed a lot of supplies or tools. Most of them could be done with things you have around the house. I recommend The One Week Writing Workshop to both new and veteran novelists of all ages.
Kathryn Dare, San Francisco Book Review
About the Author:
Karin Adams holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Winnipeg and pursued doctoral studies at Harvard University, focusing on ancient languages and literature. After seven years as a university instructor, she returned to her first love—creative writing—and has authored five traditionally published works of fiction.
Since 2010, Karin has been delivering inspiring writing workshops and classes based on her own practices to help fiction writers of all stripes succeed in their projects. She has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences and professional development events.
You can visit her website at https://www.karinadams.com for more information on her books, articles and courses.